Marketing de Guerrilla Para Consultores

8/6/2019 Marketing de Guerrilla Para Consultores

1/24

A Guide toGuerrilla Marketingfor Consultants

Tactics for Winning Profitable Clients


2/24


3/24

A Guide toGuerrilla Marketing for Consultants

By

Jay Conrad Levinson and

Michael W. McLaughlin

A Guide to Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

www.GuerrillaConsulting.com




4/24

2 A Guide to Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants


When you try to be all things to all people, you end up

being nothing

Al Reis


5/24

The old saying, You cant get fired for hiring IBM just isnt valid anymore. These

days, clients choose the best consultants, not the best-known ones. Todays clients

seek talent, not firm names. The competition for new work is not between firms, butbetween people and their ideas.

Consultants marketing efforts havent changed in response to this reality. In fact, their

marketing hasnt changed much in decadesexcept to get slicker, flashier and more

expensive.

Thats not working. The competitive battle in consulting is no longer about vying for

projects; its about competing for relationships with those who award those projects.

Thats what Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants is about: how to winprofitable work from

a new, more discerning breed of consulting clients.

Its high time for consultant to adopt guerrilla marketing techniques. This brief Guide

will spell out the ABCs ofGuerrilla Marketing for Consultants to get you started.

Guerrilla Marketing Wants You




6/24



Guerrilla Marketing: Everythingyou do to promote your

practice, from the moment you conceive of it to the point at

which clients are doing business with you on a regular basis.


7/24

The operative words on the facing page are everythingand regular basis because they

define guerrilla marketing. For a guerrilla, marketing begins the moment you decide to

become a consultant, and never stops.

Marketing involves more than just trying to sell your services; it affects how you run

your practice, bid on projects, perform for clients and build relationships. Simply put,

marketing is everything you do. Your firms name, its services, methods of serving

clients, pricing plan, the location of your office, and how you promote your practice

are all part of guerrilla marketing.

And there is much more, including the clients you choose to work with, how you

answer the telephone, even how you design your invoices, envelopes and proposals.

Guerrilla marketing bears little resemblance to the traditional me-too marketing used

by most consultants in six distinct ways:

Guerrilla MarketingWhats It to You?



What is Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants?

Traditional Marketing Guerrilla Marketing

Central to the business Is the business

Consultant-focused Insight-based

Invest money Invest time, effort and energy

Show up and throw up Listen and serve

Grow revenue Grow profit

One size fits all One size fits none

Regis McKenna, author and marketing expert, reminds us that Marketing is everything.Guerrillas add...And everything is marketing.


8/24



Guerrilla Marketing Golden Rule: To be successful as a

consultant, you must have something to say and someone

who is willing to listen to you.


9/24

Type the term consultant (or any variation) into your favorite search engine and look

at the number of consultants within a clients immediate reach. Its enough to make

any consultant feel like a small fish in a huge pond.

The consultants challenge is to find the right client at the right time. You may get

lucky and stumble onto a golden client opportunity. But thats the exception, not the

rule.

Attracting the right clients precisely when they need your help requires a well-planned

marketing strategy. Some consultants run their practices with no marketing plan at all,

which is a sure-fire way back to a corporate job or to the unemployment line.

You can find dozens of approaches for creating a marketing plan, but guerrillas keep

it simple. They start with a one-page plan that consists of seven sentences:

Sentence one explains the purpose of your marketing

Sentence two explains how you achieve that purpose by describing the

substantive benefits you provide to clients

Sentence three describes your target market(s)

Sentence four describes your niche Sentence five outlines the marketing weapons you will use

Sentence six reveals the identity of your business

Sentence seven provides your marketing budget.

If you have a marketing plan, take another look at it. Does it address each of these

seven pieces? If not, take a crack at drafting these seven sentences for your practice.

Once you have that one-page plan, you can develop a marketing roadmap that

highlights the guerrilla marketing weapons youll use, when youll use them, and

how youll know if each worked.

The Seven Easy Pieces of Guerrilla Marketing




10/24



Professional service marketing is certainly among the

safest Ive ever seen. Because it appears to take no risks,

its actually quite risky.

Seth Godin


11/24

In side-by-side comparisons, consultants look pretty much the same to clients because

consultants tend to mimic each others marketing identities. Differentiating your

practice from the competitioneven slightlycan bring you more clients, higherfees, and lower cost of sales. Yet too often, consultants attempt to distinguish their

practices in ways that have little or no influence on clients buying decisions. The

result? Clients see consulting services as a commodity.

Distinguish your practice by avoiding the use of the so-called differentiators below.

Clients eyes glaze over when they read these claims:

1. Quality service

2. Best price

3. Methods, tools, and approaches

4. Service responsiveness

5. Consultants credentials

6. Importance of the client

7. Testimonials and references

You can bet that one or more of these differentiators is included in 90% of

consultants promotional material. Forget about it. Jettison these surefire losers.Instead, let guerrilla marketing help you develop new, creative approaches for

standing out in the crowd.

Be Safe and Youll Be Sorry




12/24



Follow the 60/30/10 Guerrilla Marketing Formula

30% Prospective Clients

10% The Broader Market

60% Current Clients


13/24

By far, your best source for new consulting work is your relationships with existing

clients and the referrals they generate. So, as you decide where to place your marketing

efforts, focus most of your resources on your existing clients.

Guerrilla marketing is about balance. Allocate your marketing budget to target three

groups of clients using the 60/30/10 rule:

Current clients. This is the smallest of the three groups, but existing clients should

generate the largest percentage of your profits. Plan to devote 60 percent of your

marketing efforts here.

Prospective clients. Your goal is to convert prospective clients into clientsif they fit

your targeted client profile and have problems that you can solve. Commit 30 percent

of your marketing resources to win work from this group.

The broader market. This includes everybody in the business world not represented

in the first two groups. Invest 10 percent of your marketing resources in the broad

market. Devoting resources to this group is less efficient, but the effort has the

potential to generate important contacts and leads.

The 60/30/10 percentages are rules of thumb, not gospel. If youre just starting a

practice, adjust the percentages to attract new clients, and move toward 60/30/10 over

time. Every consulting practice is different, so customize your marketing approach to

fit your objectives.

A Bird in Hand




14/24



When your work speaks for itself, dont interrupt.

- Henry J. Kaiser


15/24

When you buy an appliance, you expect trouble-free performance. If a new dishwasher

springs a leak and ruins your oak floor, youre likely to warn others. Research shows

that people are far more likely to tell others about bad purchasing experiences thangood ones, so everyone you know will likely hear about the dishwasher from hell.

Clients are no different. Your marketing program may get you in the door, and your

analytical and selling skills may land the project. But, without question, your top-

notch consulting work is the most potent weapon in your guerrilla marketing arsenal.

Its the best way to keep clients coming back for more and praising you to others.

Deliver the goods with competence, speed, and minimal disruption. Master every

facet of the consulting process, including how to plan and execute a project flawlessly,

manage client communications, and create an environment of trust so the client is

comfortable with your recommendations.

Clients scrutinize everything you do, from how you communicate with their staff to

whether you take the last cup of coffee without making a fresh pot. They observe how

you work under the stress of deadlines, how you recover from stumbles, and whether

you admit mistakes. If your work is substandard, clients will blame you and pass the

word along to others.

By contrast, when your performance is excellent, it speaks louder than any other

marketing tool. And your clients will provide you with glowing references, both within

and outside their companies.

Your Most Potent Marketing Weapon




16/24



The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.

Peter Drucker


17/24

Guerrillas use an array of marketing weapons, working in unison, to get their messages

through. They launch multiple marketing weapons simultaneously, and they track and

respond to results.

For example, if you planned to do three client seminars but the first two bombed,

cancel the third one or make adjustments to turn it around. Guerrillas wouldnt have

everything riding on one seminar series. Instead, they have multiple marketing

weapons in the works at the same time.

Patience is a virtue in marketing. You may not see results from your efforts for several

months, but dont give up. When your tactics start to work, youll build momentum.

Your targeted clients will begin to know you, and your telephone will ring.

Create marketing tactics that support, reinforce, and cross-promote each other.

Reference your articles prominently in your proposals, feature your Web site in your

direct mailings, and publicize your survey results in your email signature line. Your

goal is to imprint multiple, positive impressions of your practice in your clients minds.

Clients equate success and competence with sustained presence, so blanket your target

market(s). For a cumulative effect, hit your markets simultaneously on many fronts.When clients repeatedly see your articles, read about your speeches, and see the

results of your research, they will accept you as an expert and want to work with you.

Guerrilla Marketing = Fusion Marketing




18/24



I dont know who you are.

I dont know your company.

I dont know your companys product.

I dont know what your company stands for.

I dont know your companys customers.

I dont know your companys record.

I dont know your companys reputation.

Nowwhat was it you wanted to sell me?

- Scowling Executive

From Ogilvy on Advertising


19/24

The role of a consultant is not unlike that of a surgeon. In buying your services,

clients may feel they are putting the health of their businesses, their finances, and

their careers in your hands. So your first job is to earn their confidence.

You may have reams of relevant case studies and a blue-chip business card. But they

wont make an iota of difference if the client doesnt believe thatyou will deliver

what you promise. If the client doesnt trust you, your firm will be eliminated from

the running.

Personal selling is not a grab bag of manipulative tricks to get clients to like you,

but rather a strategy of engaging clients in a substantive discussion of the issues.

For guerrillas, personal selling is not selling at all, at least not in the traditional

sense. Instead, its a give-and-take exchange with the client characterized by:

Intense listening

Insightful questioning

Presentation of creative ideas.

If the client perceives that you understand the macro issues and nuances of the

discussion, you will advance to the next step. If not, the client will politely showyou the door.

Of course, have the stacks of case studies tucked away in your briefcase, just in case

youre asked for them. They provide excellent backup. Remember, the key to selling

yourself is to focus first on clients and their issues, not on yourself or your firm.

Sell Yourself First




20/24



People come to your site for one reason: to solve a problem.

Vincent Flanders


21/24

The Web Really Mattersa Lot



When customers enter a new store, they notice little things. They quickly size up the

stores layout, the quality of the merchandise, the attentiveness of the sales staff, and

the overall feel of the place. They form quick impressions and decide whether to shopor move on.

Web site visitors, especially those new to your site, are like those shoppers. They

make decisions about the credibility and value of your site, often before the home page

finishes loading. If the site appears unprofessional, slow, or out-of-date, your visitors

are likely to move on, leaving you with lost opportunities.

Before you release your site to the public, ask five of your clients to review it. Ask

them to be brutally honest in their reviews and to answer these questions:

1. What is distinctive about the site?

2. Is the content valuable?

3. Does the site convey a clear understanding of what your practice does?

4. Is the sites content helpful in addressing clients issues?

5. Is it focused on clients needs?

6. Would you bookmark the site?

7. Would it encourage you to call?

Use the results of the Five-Client Test to create a site that does more than hawk your

services. Give clients what they need. And keep in mind the advice of Steve Krug,

author ofDont Make Me Think: you should not do things that force people to think

unnecessarily when theyre using your site. You want clients to be thinking about how

you can solve their problems, not how to navigate your site.


22/24

20

There is no magic formula for fame and fortune. A consultant must wear many hats

advisor, expert, salesperson, problem solver, coach, referee, banker, publisher, and

author. As you juggle the demands of clients, bosses, and your life, toss one more hatinto the airmarketer. Your steady focus on marketing, even in the face of client and

project distractions, will secure your spot at the top of the heap.

Buzz for Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

Wow! If youre the sort of person who tells someone how to build a watch when

they ask you what time it is, this is the book for you. No baloney, essential, usefulhands-on advice for anyone whos serious about being a consultant. Seth Godin,

author ofFree Prize Inside

Great consultants dont just talk about marketing, they do itevery day. Thats why

they win. Follow the marketing advice in this book, and youll outsell, outperform,

and outlast your competitors. Jeffery Fox, marketing consultant and author ofHow

to Become a Marketing Super Star

Mike McLaughlin and Jay Levinson are two of the smartest, street-savvy marketers

around. Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants distils their collective wisdom into a

practical field guide, chock-full of practical tips and tactics. Harry Mills, author

ofThe Rainmakers ToolkitandArtful Persuasion

A Final Thought




23/24

Documents

Marketing de Guerrilla Para Consultores